Infinite Horror
by Thesod
Summary: "Do you want to understand the meaning of life? Do you want to truly be alive?" This is the story of a group of people, who are jaded or discontent, or weary of the real world, surviving through horror movies with the help of a mysterious being call Hal. Content warning: contain various mild depiction of gore and morality dilemma.
1. Chapter 1

**The cold and vibration woke Henry. Since he has been sleeping in for years, Henry has learned the ability to wake up without opening his eyes. This has proved to be quite handy considering he does not remember how he got here.** _Am I on a high speed train with metal floor heading deep underground? Is that a watch on my wrist?_

 **"Not bad, looks like you're the best of the rookies," an ice-cold voice echoed the metal hall.**

 **"What is this place? Who are you? Why am I here?" Henry heard a man jumped up.** _Lucky_ _,_ **Henry secretly rejoiced,** _someone else step up to ask the questions so I don't have to draw attention_ **.**

 **"Think about it, what was the last thing you remember." The cold voice replied. "And you, Asian, how long are you gonna pretend to be asleep? The rapid breathing gave you away long ago."**

 _Busted, guess that's my cue to get up_ _,_ **Henry thought as he got up and scanned his surrounding: A high speed train with no seats and some metal pipes hang down the middle. A group of uniformed men and women gathered at the other end of the cart, paying no attention to the commotion here. There's something odd about their chatter. The sound appears to be coming from another room, yet there's nothing between Henry and them.**

 **The man with the ice cold voice was about thirty or so years of age, brown hair, an average, forgettable face if not for the large hideous scar across it.. The man with all the questions was a typical office worker with a clean haircut, button up shirt and leather shoes. Five other people, three male and two females, were slowly getting up.**

 **Henry searched his mind as the man with the scar suggested. The last thing he remembers was clicking "Yes" on a pop up ad with no close button half jokingly expecting some get rich scam site,** _Do you want to understand the meaning of life? Do you want to truly be alive?_ **Now this is even more ridiculous than getting knocked unconscious, kidnapped, and dumped onto a moving train heading underground. A choice on a computer prompt got him here?**

 **"You scrubs are quite lucky. This is 'Resident Evil'. A fairly simple Sci-fi horror movie with only an eight men difficulty, even death should be swift and easy," he said as he took one last inhale of the cigarette, and grind it out in his hand.**

 **"Are you saying this is like 'The Matrix'? Where our consciousness enters a virtual reality, and we go back to our bodies when we're done here?" A slightly obese man asked. He has been fretful ever since he woke up.**

 **"I don't know if it's just our consciousness or not, but I do know we can get hurt, feel pain, and even die in here," said the man with the scar. "And you're wrong about what happens after we finish with the mission. Hal will sent you into another movie, maybe you've seen it, maybe you haven't. And it will always bring more people in at the start of the mission, Different amount each time. The difficulty is linked to how many people are in the mission. Eight is the least I've seen."**

 **"How did you know they died? Maybe they're already back to their own body? I bet you this is just an alpha test of an developing VR." The obese man said smugly. His words seem to hit a nerve. In a blink of an eye, the man with the scar went from sitting on the floor by the side of the train to pulling a gun out sticking it into the obese man's mouth.**

 **"Do you want find out you piece of shit? Can you even imagine the endless terror? This is the third movie I've been to. The first one was 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'. Fifteen newbies was sent in, plus two veterans of two horror movies. Do you know how that ended? All dead. All of them are fucking dead, only I survived. Do you want to be killed in those ridiculous dreams? Do you want to see everything around you become creeping rotten meat? Do you know what it feels like to have your own body being cut up by scissors like a doll as he lay out each piece of your skin, muscles, intestines, and internal organs neatly on the floor, yet somehow you're still alive and watching because your eyelid was the first thing he cut off," the man with the scar screamed as his eyes filled with rage.**

 **Henry froze as office man and the lady with the glasses walk up and break them apart. Something else caught Henry's eyes during the commotion. A symbol he's all too familiar behind where the man with the scar has been sitting: an octagon with red and white evenly divided into eight slots.**

 **"If you lack the will to live, don't want to be tortured, or be eaten alive by zombies in this case, I suggest you kill yourself right now. At least your death will is fast and painless,"** t **he man with the scar lean back to the side of the cart and resumed his explaining.**

 **"So there's no way for us to go back to our own body?" The lady with the glasses asked.**

 **"For the last time, we're not in some stupid video game. Do you think any of this is possible by human technology? No, this is the work of God, and we are but insects in its eyes, dragged here for its entertainment as we suffer in these movies. There's no going back. At least, I don't think we'll make it back."**

 **"So there is a chance for us to go back, however slim that chance may be?" The lady with the glasses noticed his choice of words.**

 **"The quality of rookies are quite good this time around," the man with the scar seemed impressed. "Yes, you're right. There is a chance to go back to our world," his words caught everyone's attention.**

 **"Every time you finish a mission, in this case, survived through this movie, you'll receive 1000 points, which can be used in exchange for lots of different things. For example, living in this world for 100 days."**

 **"Are you crazy? Why would we want to come back here?" said the teenager.**

 **"No, I think I understand what he mean," the lady with the glasses adjusted her glasses. "There are many types of horror films. Take 'Resident evil' for example, other than the hive right here which is filled with zombies, the rest of the world is quite a peaceful place."**

 **"Bingo, " the man with the scar snapped his finger. "Think about it, after fighting for you life through a horror movie, you get to relax in the safe part of the world, where you can count your blessing for being alive."**

 _So is that what the computer prompt is trying to tell us?_ **Henry pondered as he tries to recall the plot of a decade old movie,** _all this just for a lesson to appreciate being alive doesn't seem to be cost effective._

 **"Other than exchanging for time in the world of the previous mission, there are plenty of other stuffs as well. Take this desert eagle for example," the man with the scar raised his gun. "You can get this unlimited ammo version of the gun for just 100 points. Also, a person's body is broken down to five different stats by Hal: Intellect, Spirit, Vitality, Dexterity, and Constitution. Each stat cost 10 points to increase. An average human's stats is 100. In another word, you can double your strength if you survive through a mission. Live through a hundred films and you'll become superman."**

 **"Back to the original topic, to go back to our world, how much points does it cost?" The lady with the glasses steered the conversation back on course.**

 **"50,000," said the the man with the scar as he lite up another cigarette, "if you live through fifty horror films without spending a single point, you can go back home."**

 **Silent fallen among everyone. If what he said is true, then surviving fifty horror films without spending any points would simply be impossible.**

 **"Of course, there are side mission as well, like explaining the rules of this world to you rookies, Hal just gave me 100 points. I see you've already notice the device on your wrist," he turned to Henry, who was looking at the information on it during the man with the scar's speech. "The three hours counting down time is how long we need to stay in this world. The list of items with numbers next to it are the confirmed kills you have: zombies, licker, and rookies. Every zombie kill is worth 1 point, every licker kill is worth 100 points, every rookie is worth 1000 points..." the man with the scar paused and looked around with an blood lust grin on his face.** **Only Henry, the office man, and the lady with the glasses were able to look him back in the eyes while others shy away. "Too bad it's negative. Alright, any other questions? the mission is about to start," the man with the scar shrugged his shoulders.**

 **"Just a couple more questions, you said this is Resident evil right? Wouldn't we be safe if we just ride this train back up the mansion?" The lady with the glasses asked.**

 **The man with the scar nodded, "Look at the name on the top left corner, read it out loud."**

 **"James Shade." One of the mercenary's glow a dim light around him for a few seconds before fading away. His teammates doesn't seem to notice the light at all.**

 **"He's the leader of the mercenaries. This movie only happens within a small confined area. So in order to increase the difficulty, Hal will make us follow a certain character, like Shade for example, to keep us in the action. If we don't stay within a hundred and fifty feet of the marked person, Hal will erase us. When he dies, Hal will change the mark to another person, making sure we're facing danger at all time. Also, before the mercenaries shut the Red queen down, we're not allowed to warn them about any danger."**

 **"Who's this Hal you've been mentioning this whole time?"**

 **"Hal should be the thing responsible for sending us into these horror film. It's also the thing where we turn in our points for rewards. It's, in fact, just a glowing ball of light. The veterans called it Hal just because of its emotionless tone when it talks to you.** **Alright you scrubs, the mission is starting. From now on, they'll be able to hear us," the man with the scar said as the train began to slow down. "Any mention of anything even remotely related to Hal and you'll lose points. The more they heard, the more you lose. If you go into negative at the end of the mission then you'll get erased. Good luck."**

 **When the train stop, the mercenaries left the train in tactical formation while the main character Alice, the reporter Matt, and the antagonist Spence followed them.  
**

 **The man with the scar casually walked off the train while the rest of them reluctantly follow. No one paid attention to the fact that only seven of them left the train while Henry, who has been quiet this whole time, stayed behind. He just recalled a very important plot in the movie: the bag containing the T-virus and the anti virus where Spencer was found on the train. And the years of video game habit of leaving no stone unturned paid off. When he grab hold of the bag, he was spooked by an emotionless voice in his head, "Obtained the T-virus and the anti-virus. Award 1 D crystal and 500 points."**

 **"So that's what Hal sounds like," Henry chuckled. "Fitting name for such an indifferent tone of voice. Either he has never encountered this D crystal business or he is withholding information. My money's on the latter."**

 **When he rejoined the group with a bag in his hand, all of them were still adjusting to the fact that they are in a movie and listening to Alice demanding answers from Shade. After listening to her identity and how she lost her memory, Alice pointed to the group and asked, "What about them? Who are they?"**

 **"The one with the scar is a security guard here name Hughes. The rest of them are just desk clerks and janitors. We found them on the train. They seem to lost their memories as well so they couldn't tell us anything either. But since Umbrella listed secrecy as the top priority, we had to bring them along."** _So that's our cover up provided by Hal in order to fit in the story._

 **"Sir, we've breached the hive," said Rain, the long hair mercenary, ending the exposition. Shade sighed and nodded after looking at Henry and the group. It seems bringing a bunch of civilians along when they are going up against a homicidal A.I. was not the most ideal scenario he had in mind.**

 **The door slowly opens revealing the pitch black hallway behind it. Shade called out a name, "J.D." One of the mercenary nod and put on his night vision goggle. Shade hesitated for second, and called a second name, "Hughes" Hughes just nod and casually walked into the darkness. Seems like he's familiar with the plot and understand the fact that no danger lies ahead.**

 **Moments after Hughes and J.D. walked into the darkness, they found the light switch and turned on the lights along with the 3D screen behind the fake windows. The main characters and the others seem to be distracted by the fake scenery while Henry watched the mercenaries struggle with the elevator that he knew was broken and filled with zombies. When they throw the flare down and realize the cable is broken with the elevator at the very bottom, Shade's expression turned dark as time is not on his side.**

 **"We're taking the stairs. Ten minutes to the bottom floor. Everyone keep up," Shade shouted. The group seemed indifferent to the command at first, but when the mercenaries open the emergency door, blood drained from their face as they remembered what Kaplan, the computer expert of the mercenary, showed on the schematic of the hive.**

 **The top floor of the hive where they are located is eight hundred feet underground while the queen's chamber is located twenty three hundred feet below. A building on the surface is around ten to twelve feet per story. So even in the best case scenario, fifteen hundred feet underground is a hundred and twenty five floors. If they have to get to the bottom floor in ten minutes, that would mean they have to travel twelve and a half floor per minute.**

 **The mercenaries were in tip top shape. Alice, Matt, and Spencer seemed to be doing just fine as well. Hughes survived through three horror films. Even if he only spend a small portion of the points he earned on improving his body he would still be much better than average humans. Office man and the lady with the glasses seemed to work out in their spare time as they were barely losing distance with the mercenaries. Henry was falling behind at a faster rate because of the extra weight from bag. The middle age man seemed to do manual labor as he was able to keep up. The teenager was doing just fine as he ran down the stairs. The obese man ran out of breath after about twenty floors and began to walk while the housewife was only slightly ahead of him.**

 **"Two out," Hughes said coldly as the office man look confused. "A hundred and fifty feet away and you get erased. That's the rule set by Hal. Did they think I was joking?" Henry heard and turned to witness something he'll never forget.**

 **As if an invisible wall slow descend above them, the top of the obese man slowly disappear with no blood coming out. The housewife screamed at the strange sight and tried to gather whatever strength she had left to run away, only to tripped and rolled down the stairs injuring her feet and followed the same fate as the obese man. Just like Hughes said, they got erased.**

 **When they reach the bottom floor, Henry could see the horror on everyone's face as they breaths heavily. He can empathize with how they feel. Less than an hour ago they were living their mediocre lives back in civilization. This whole ordeal seemed like something out of a fairy tale, or a dream. Perhaps they were secretly delighted, to finally escape their boring lives. Once they were more powerful than the villains, they got to travel between different worlds to see the fantastic view and enjoy the thrill. And when they get bored with it all, they can go back to their world with a superhuman body. This place must seemed like heaven to them. But their recently departed teammates shattered that little fantasy. This wasn't a game they get to fool around with. They were merely playthings of Hal like Hughes said.**

 **"Tough it out, just be glad you're still alive," said Hughes as he realized what he said finally sunk in. "Honestly, you guys are quite lucky. This is a simplistic horror film. As a matter of fact, this is one of the few that you can survive with just bullets. As long as you tough it out, you'll get 1000 points to improve your body."**

 **As the group progress further, their route took them to some flooded laboratories. "This is gonna slow us down," said Kaplan. "Our route to the queen's chamber takes us straight through these labs."**

 **"Rain, J.D., Hughes, go check to see how bad the flooding is. Kaplan, find us another way." Shade swiftly send out orders as the rest of them stood by the hallway and stared into the water filled labs.**

 _These are some good quality glass to fulfill the part time job as fish tanks,_ **Henry thought sarcastically as he observe the floating corpses and the holes left on the shatterproof window when they try to break out. Not everyone was as calm as him. The office man and teenager looked disturbed but manage to keep themselves together. The middle age man lost it and throw up everywhere.**

 **The the lady with the glasses shook her head and turned to Henry. "Guess we should introduce ourselves, seeing how we're about to fight for our lives together. I'm Sophia Pomeroy, teacher. What's your name?"**

 **"J.M." Henry replied, giving the abbreviation of his internet name as he remember that 'Death note' is one of the anime that got turned into movie.**

 **The office man followed up, "Not the talkative type? After what we just saw, I don't blame you. I'm Strug Gore, office manager. I guess my complain about my life being too boring was heard and I got sent to this place."**

 **"Hector Smith, truck driver," said the middle age man. "Guess the same happen to me Strug, I wasn't happy with how stingy my wife was sometimes, or how disappointing my son turned out. My friend recommended some online game to me. I must have clicked on the wrong button and ended up here."**

 **"Judah Blanks, junior in high school," said the teenager. "I complained a lot about the old world as well, but this place isn't so bad. According to what Hughes said, we would be able to keep our improved body when we go back. I'm gonna make those bastard pay for what they've done."**

 _So there's an outgoing teacher with alcohol in her breath, whiny office manager, disappointed trucker, and a bully victim, we've got quite the team here,_ Henry though, _dissatisfaction towards the old world seem to be the only thing we have in common, why would Hal bring a bunch of depressed people together_?

 **Getting nowhere with trying to figure out why were they sent here, Henry turned his attention to the corpses.** _What if I wake these corpses up now while they are contained, would I be able to warn them about the zombies ahead of time to minimize the casualties of these mercenaries? They do have quite the fire power if they don't waste it on shooting the wrong places_ , **Henry thought as he knocked on the window pretending to be intrigued by the corpse. His plan only half worked. The corpse did open her eyes and put her hands on the window. But all his plan did was freak Matt out as Shade casually disregard it as electricity in fresh body as he examines the now motionless corpse.**

 **"Sir, no go, the whole floor is flooded." Rain showed up just in time to stop Henry from trying other ways to mess with the zombie.**

 **"Alright, Kaplan found a new route. We're behind schedule, so let's move it." Shade shouted. Lucky for Henry, being the worst in shape in the group for spending most of his time behind computer, the mercenaries didn't choose to run this time around. So they marched, to the dreaded 'Dining hall B'. Unlike the confused mercenaries staring at the strange container with cold air leaking underneath, Henry and the others knew full well at the horror that lies within. 1 point for each zombie kill. 100 points for each licker kill. This was Hal's indirect way of telling them these creatures are a hundred times more dangerous than the average zombie.**

 **"J.D. You and Rain stay here and keep the prisoner here and secure the exit." Shade ordered.**

 **"Sir, reading indicate there's no poison air here, maybe the system malfunctioned." Said the medic.**

 **"Alright, there might be survivors here. Give me a search line but keep it tight."** _Survivors? Yeah right, there are people in here alright, just not the survivor you're hoping for,_ **Henry exchanged a glance with the others. They were thinking of the same thing.**

 **Hughes took point of the search line after seeing Sophia with a question in her eyes and the rest of ragtag team followed. "I've been thinking, can we change the plot of the movie?" Sophia asked**

 **"Go on, what exactly do you have in mind?" Hughes nodded, encouraging Sophia to continue.**

 **"What if we plant explosives all around these containers and blow them up? Wouldn't we be able to get a few thousand points for killing these monsters?"**

 **Henry and Strug exchanged a surprised look. "We've got quite the lady here," Hugh smiled. "It's a nice thought. And you're right about being able to earn points by blowing them up. But I got some questions for you, where are you gonna find the explosive? And even if you do manage to get a hold some, do you think they would give us the time to set them up?" Hugh points to the mercenaries. "They don't know what lickers are, or what will happen after they shut the main computer off. So if we do anything suspicious, they will most likely shoot us on the spot, maybe even release the lickers prematurely. One more thing, what do you think is our trump card for survival in this place?"**

 **"Strength? No. Luck? Unlikely. Wait, is it the fact that we know the plot?"**

 **"Bingo, Our prophet like knowledge is our only saving grace in avoiding danger and staying alive. So unless I'm absolutely sure it's safe, I will not interfere with the flow of the story. And if anyone wants to earn a few extra points by putting all of us in danger? I wouldn't hesitate to sent him to hell." Henry noticed Hughes leering at him and the bag he's carrying. Henry nod back thanking his mercy. It seemed his action did not go unnoticed by Hughes.**

 **After the searching yield no results, they've now reached the security door before the queen's chamber. "What's taking so long?" Medic asked impatiently.**

 **"Red queen's defenses are in place. She's making it difficult," just as Kaplan finished explaining, the security door lifts open.**

 **"You stay here," Shade told Alice as he inches through the hallway. Suddenly, the lights in the dark hallway lit up.**

 **"The lights are automated, nothing to worry about," Kaplan explained.** _Some computer expert you are. Those aren't lights. They are the laser that will slice you to piece._ **Henry thought as he noticed Sophia pulls the back of Strug's shirt shaking her head.** _What is Strug up to?_ **Meanwhile, Shade had set up some sort of transmitter by the last door before the queen's chamber.**

 **"Move up," Shade ordered as Kaplan explain to Alice what they are carrying into the queen's chamber.**

 **Right before the mercenaries enters the chamber, Strug finally ran up stop them and asked, "Wa, wait just a minute. Don't you guys think this is a little too easy? The Red queen methodically murders every single person in here yet now she's just gonna let you shut her down this easily?"**

 **All the mercenaries stopped, giving him the suspicious look. Sophia lowers her head and moved slightly further away from him. Shade walked up to him, "Did you regain your memories? Is there something you'd like to tell us?" Strug was shaking in fear as he realized Hal had stopped him from explaining. "Alright, since you can't tell me anything, you, and you. Come with us." Shade pointed at Strug and Hector.**

 **Blood drained from both men's face. "No, no, I don't want to go in there." Hector freaked out and started running away. Before he was able to make it very far, the mercenaries shot him on the spot. Strug and Judah threw up at the sight of blood and brain splatter across the floor with Strug also showed slight remorse since he was responsible for Hector's death. Now he finally understood what Hughes meant about Hal increasing the difficulty. He wanted to save the mercenaries by warning them, he got someone killed instead. They are not some all-knowing prophet in this place. They were more like gladiators who live or die at the whim of their king.**

 **"I've suspected you guys from the start. Your identity may be registered on the computer and you may have lost your memories. But memory lost doesn't include the habits of working in here for years. And all of you look more like the first time being in here. I don't know why you're trying to us from reaching the queen's chamber. Maybe you're trying to lure more of us into the chamber so your friends outside can overwhelm us with number. So here's a solution, get up," Shade grabbed Strug by the neck and forced him up, points his gun at Henry. "The two of you are coming in with us."**

 _So there's my punishment for the taking the T-virus and messing with that zombie in the lab._ **Henry puts down the bag and walked along side Shade and three other mercenaries into the hallway of death. For the first time since they've all met on the train, Henry showed something beside apathy: a faint smile appeared on his face. His hands shook as they clenched into a fist. His mind raced as it try to recall every single detail regarding this hall of death in a thirteen year old movie.**

 **As soon as the last person entered the hallway, The front and back door slammed shut. The mercenaries readied their weapon as Shade calls on the radio, "Kaplan?"**

 **"Some kind of dormant defense mechanism, we must have tripped it when we opened the door."**

 **"Put it back to sleep."**

 **"Working on it."**

 **"Hold your position, everyone stay calm." Shade reluctantly said.**

 **Strug has finally pulled himself together as he knows the first laser will be coming any second now. Suddenly, the lights in the hallway dim down. A bright blue line of light appeared between the walls and headed straight for the group. "GET DOWN" Strug shouted, even sooner than Shade did as his attention was focused entirely on that side of the hallway.**

 **Shade's reflex was top notch as not only was he able to react to the laser, he also had time to pull the mercenary next to him down with him as well. Unfortunately for this nameless mercenary, his mind seemed to be in another place as he was oblivious to what was happening around him. When Shade pulled him down, his hand was thrown back up reflexively, and cost for his involuntary action was all of his fingers. The blonde hair nameless mercenary was able to dodge the first laser on his own. The medic, however, seemed to have zero real life combat experience because the only thing she did when Strug shouted was turning her face to the direction of his voice. Medic may not have experience with combat, but as luck would have it, Henry was standing right next to her at the tail end of the group. By the time the four men in front dodged the blue light of death, Henry had enough time to wrap his hand around her waist and pulled her down with him.**

 **"Medic, MEDIC!" Shade shout as the brown hair mercenary was going into shock at the sight of his finger-less hand. The pain of her rough landing seemed to finally set the medic into combat mentality as she was able to swiftly shove a fentanyl lollipop into his mouth to ease his pain.**

 **"SIR, it's coming back!" The blonde hair mercenary drew everyone's attention back to the crisis at hand. In the original movie, the laser changed course from just above ground to waist high right at the moment the blonde hair merc** **enary** **jumped. Strug recalled this part clearly as he stay just behind the blonde hair merc** **enary** **, watching him closely. Just as Strug remembered, the laser was moving slightly faster than blonde hair merc** **enary** **'s back stepping, almost as if the Red queen was toying with him. Right before the laser was about to reach him, the blonde hair merc** **enary** **bend down his knees getting ready to jump. Strug follow his cue and quickly lay down on the floor to avoid the laser. The laser missed Strug by a mere inch, perhaps the Red queen has deemed him less threatening than the blonde merc** **enary** **.**

 **Just when the blonde merc** **enary** **'s fate was about to play out exactly like his movie script demanded him to, suddenly he felt his belt dragging him down while the laser moved diagonally upward right in front of his face. He sworn he could feel the burning heat at the tip of his nose. He thought he was gonna be He-who-must-not-be-named for the rest of his life. When he turned his head as he lay on the floor, enjoying the pain on his back as it was an undoubted sign of life, trying to find out exactly how he's alive and who does he owe his life to. He saw an Asian who's attention is elsewhere. The blonde merc** **enary** **followed Henry's sight and realized his captain's life was threaten by the laser that barely missed him.**

 **While Henry and Strug was dodging the laser, Shade and the medic was still back stepping and planning their own escape of the deadly laser. "Medic lay face down. Captain, grab hold of the air vent, the laser can't reach you there," taking advantage of his foreknowledge, Henry told Shade what he would've known on his own. As for the medic, if the brown hair merc** **enary** **was untouched by the second laser, then she'll be fine as well. And just like the movie, Shade made it through the second laser with only the cost of a combat knife.**

 **Strug and Henry knew there was little time before the third and final laser appear, so they lifted the drugged up finger-less merc** **enary** **and carried him to the end of the hallway. The three other merc** **enaries** **were confused by their action as Strug went back to grab Shade by the wrist and Henry pulled the medic and blonde hair merc** **enary** **with him and dragged them to the door. "Trust me and stand here as close to the door as possible. There's no dodging this one. We're in God's hand now," Strug explain.**

 **"Or Kaplan's." Henry half jokingly added.**

 **Shade's refusal to join them fade as soon as he saw the final laser formed a net with no blind spot to escape. "Shit." Shade mutter as he close his eyes wait for the seemingly inevitable.  
"GOT IT!" Kaplan rejoiced as the laser fade just an inch before survivor's eyes.**

 **"Saved Medic. Award 1 C crystal and 1000 points, Saved Merc A. Award 1 D crystal and 800 points, Saved Mercenary B. Award 1 D crystal and 800 points." Hal's rigid yet stately voice appeared in Henry's head. The second sudden appearance of Hal's voice no longer spooked Henry. As he watch Strug's surprised expression and glance back at him, Henry knew Strug received the message from Hal as well. If Henry saved three nameless character and got that much points, Strug must have gotten a lot more for saving the captain, who isn't clearly isn't a throwaway character, since he even made a return in the fifth resident evil movie.**

 **As the medic tend to the wound of the finger-less mercenary, Judah ran over to pad Strug on the shoulder, "You were damn good in there, managing to stay in one piece in that laser hallway."**

 **Sophia smack Strug in the back of the head and said, "You got lucky this time. I kept telling you not to interfere with the story and you just won't listen. Hughes is right you know, our best chance of survival in this place is our foreknowledge of the plot. You won't always be this lucky. You have to remember that and stop acting irrationally."**

 **Strug shook his head to try and clear his thoughts as he's in two minds about sharing what he just found out about getting extra points. He looked over to Henry as he's sure he wasn't the only one who got the points. Henry was looking at him as well and discreetly shook his head, gesturing him to keep it quiet for now.**

 **The wound on the mercenary's hand stabilized as Shade gave to command to continue with the mission. Spencer freaked out and refused to enter the hallway, "Continue? what are you, crazy? I'm not going in there."**

 **Shade looked over to Kaplan. "All of her defenses are down," Kaplan rebutted.**

 **"Deja vu, anyone?" Spencer retorted.**

 **"All of it? Are you absolutely sure?" Shade demanded. Kaplan knew the only way to convince everyone was to prove it with his live, since it was his fault that one of his teammate lost his hand. Shade, being a good leader that he was, patted him on the shoulder and walked into the hallway with him.**

 **Henry and the others stayed outside of the queen's chamber because they were already familiar with the story line. And after the incident with the hallway, none of them dared to interfere with the plot again. "Alright, the zombies will be coming out soon. Remember to avoid getting scratch from them." Sophia said, "Also, stay close to Hughes. He survived through 3 horror movies before, he'll make it through this one as well." Strug and Judah nod their heads. "By the way, how do you guys feel about killing?"**

 **"After throwing up at the sight of corpses, I think I'll be OK to shoot zombies." Judah replied. Everyone else nod as well.**

 **"Good, in that case, find a chance to pick up their weapons, and pick off the zombies when they are in small numbers. They are all walking points, remember, shoot them in the head."**

 **The lights went out as their conversation carried on. The group knew now is when the real threats get released. Zombies and lickers now roam free because the door were no longer locked by the Red queen. Henry felt Judah shaking violently beside him, even Sophia is trembling.**

 **"Are you guys afraid?" Strug asked.**

 **"Yes, I always thought the zombies are on the bottom of the food chain when it comes to horror creatures, guess I wasn't as tough as I thought." Judah replied.**

 **"Not afraid, I'm excited." Sophia also replied.**

 **After a minute or so, the lights came back on. Shade and the other mercenaries came out of the queen's chamber. "Now all we need to do is take Red queen's board back to Umbrella. Kaplan, how's the situation in the hive?" Shade seemed exhausted.**

 **"Very good, all the defense systems are down. We can just walk right out of here."**

 **"Good, now we..." before Shade could finish his sentence, they heard gunshots from dining hall B. When they got to dining hall B, Henry notice all of the storage units' light has turned red. The group saw Rain bandaging her bloody hand. "What was all the shooting about?" Shade asked.**

 **"We found a survivor." Rain replied.**

 **"And you shot him?"**

 **"She was crazed. She bit me." Strug and the others exchanged a concerned look knowing Rain is now infected by the T-virus.**

 **"She's gone!" J.D. shout. "She fell right here and she's gone!"**

 **"Look at the blood the survivor left behind, it's coagulated. Blood shouldn't be this way till after a person is already dead." Hughes said examining what the 'survivor' left behind.**

 **Shade's expression turned dark, "We're leaving here, now."  
Sophia walked up next to Hughes and whisper, "How come you spoke up? Aren't you afraid of interfering with the plot?"**

 **"You guys are damn good. Changing the plot as a rookie yet managed to stay alive," Hughes said mockingly. "Take a good look at your device, Shade's name has disappeared." Henry and the group looked down at their watch. All that remains on the watch are the counts of zombies and lickers. Shade's name is nowhere to be found. "From now on, we're free to do as we please. Remember, anything is on the table so long as we make it out of here alive." Hughes added, "If I were you guys, no stamina, reflexes, or any shooting experience, I'd stick with the mercenaries back to the queen's chamber, at least it will be safe in there."**

 **Strug and the group seemed quite surprised by Hughes' helpful advice, even though the advice was hiding behind ridicule. "You're actually not that bad of a person. You're just not good at expressing it. " Sophia smiled.**

 **"Not that bad? ha, I just want you guys to stay out of my way as I get points. Do not misunderstand. There are no good people in this world. As long as I survive, I would not hesitate to use any of you as human shield." Right before Sophia was able to reply, a moan echoed across the room putting the conversation to a halt.**

 **The first zombie made its grand entrance by dragging a fire axe across the concrete floor beside him, bringing his ex co-worker with him. "STOP, or I will shoot," J.D. shout nervously. "I said STOP!"**

 **"Sir, I think you should just shoot. I don't think a person with half of his skull missing is still alive." Henry told Shade. J.D. overheard what Henry said and took a closer look at the 'people' walking towards him.**

 **BANG. Hughes fired the first shot at the zombies with his desert eagle, obliterating a zombie's head. All the mercenaries joined in the shooting party while Shade was the only one who kept a cool head during all this. "Everyone stay in formation. J.D. take point. Kaplan, find us the shortest out to get out of here."**

 **With Shade and 3 other merc** **enaries** **still alive, the team barely enough firepower to hold the zombie at bay. As number of zombie increases, the group moves slower towards the exit. Shade realize he needs all the help he can get, so he turned around and handed Strug and Henry each a handgun with an extra magazine. "I won't be able to take care of you guys if they keep coming at us like this. Use this when you have to defend yourself. Thanks for saving my team and I back in that hallway." Henry has never shot a gun before in his life, and judging by the excitement on Strug's face, neither has he. So they stay smart and only shoot at zombies that comes near them.**

 **When the group finally made it to the exit of dining hall B, Kaplan seem to be in a lot calmer state than when he got his team killed in the movie. As Shade, Rain, and J.D provide cover fire, Kaplan was able to input the code correctly on his first try, unleashing the the trapped zombies from within. The zombies swarm out from the room and grab hold of Kaplan as he struggle to pull himself out.**

 **Bang, bang, bang. Three shots rang near his ear shooting the three zombies that almost bite him. When Kaplan turned his head to see who saved him, it was Henry who already knew what's behind the door. Strug and the others also know about this part of the movie where J.D. gets eaten alive by the zombies. But since Strug was carried away by killing zombie for the first time and Henry was the only other person with a gun. Henry stayed close to Kaplan to save his life. And his patient was reward by Hal, "Saved Kaplan. Award 1 D crystal and 1200 points."**

 **"Back to the Red queen's chamber. Everyone move it." Shade shouted, seeing the state of their exit. The mercenaries swiftly followed the order and headed back towards the chamber. Strug and the others got blown away by the blast wave of one of the container. When the concussion fade, they found themselves surrounded by zombies.**

 **"Ahhhh, die you son of a bitch." Strug screamed and started firing his gun. Henry was barely able to control himself to fire normally with Strug, Judah, and Sophia screaming next to his ear pushing the zombies away. Click, click, thirty bullets are used up quite fast, especially when Strug has been firing them rapidly with barely any aim. Henry's bullets didn't last much longer, even though he tried to aim as much as possible.**

 **After killing a zombie with the fire axe he found on the floor, Strug heard familiar gunshots near him. "What the hell are you guys still doing here? I thought I told you all to stay close to the mercenaries," Hughes barked as he shot the zombie on top of Judah. "Don't you guys remember the licker that's about to come out?" As soon as he clear out the zombies around them, Hughes took off running and the group followed him to Red queen's chamber. With the help of Hughes' unlimited ammo desert eagle and his near 100% accuracy, they barely made it to the door before the mercenaries closed the door behind them.**

 **As soon as the door closed behind them, Strug and the group lay down on the floor gasping for air. "Not too shabby," Hughes said.**

 **"Wha, what do you mean?" Strug replied, still gasping for air.**

 **"The first mission is always the most dangerous for newcomers, not only because your physical strength. Attitude is actually more important. I've seen too many people coming in here thinking it's all a dream, or some kind of T.V. show or prank. Those people die the fastest, and usually in the most horrible way, but you guys adjusted quickly. Not only did you all set your attitude straight, you guys also didn't let the fear overcome you. Guess I wasn't too far off when I said you were fit for here." Hughes pulled out a pack of cigarette and handed Strug one, "congratulation scrubs, how does it feel to be alive?"**

 **"Can I have one too?" Judah asked.**

 **"Are you even eighteen yet you little brat. Quit drinking milk before you smoke." Hughes laughed and smacked him at the back of the head.**

 **Suddenly they hear Alice from the other side of the door calling out, "Open the door. Let us in. They are right behind us." Hughes got to the door and let Alice and Matt in while the zombies are trying to forced their way in behind them. Hughes just pulled out his gun and shot at the few zombie who poked their heads through the door already.**

 **"How was it outside? Can we leave through the way you came?" Shade quickly asked them.**

 **"No, the room is filled with those things. There's no way we could fight through them all," Alice said.**

 **"So there's no way out. The queen's chamber is a dead end."**

 **"So we wait. Someone doesn't hear from you guys and they'd send back up or something, right?" Spencer asked.**

 **The mercenaries exchanged an awkward look. "We don't have time to wait around," said Shade, "the blast door we pass through on our way from the mansion is gonna seal shut in less than an hour."**

 **"What? They can't just buried us alive down here?!"**

 **"Umbrella seemed to have some idea of what was going on down here beside what they told us. Otherwise they wouldn't give such an order as sealing a laboratory when the Red queen killed everyone down here." Shade utter those words through his teeth, holding back his anger.**

 **"We have to find a way out of this room." Alice's words got everyone's attention.**

 **"And your plan to achieve that is?" Shade asked. Alice just grabbed the Red queen's board and headed towards the chamber without a word.  
"Shouldn't we follow them?" Strug asked as Alice and the other people head towards the chamber.**

 **"What's there to watch? It's not like we haven't seen the movie. I rather rest here and figure out what to do about that licker we're gonna face on the train." Hughes said casually smoking cigarette.**

 **"You guys work on that here," Henry said getting up to follow Alice, "I have a little idea I'd like to try out."**

 **"The T-virus escaped into the air conditioning system. An uncontrolled pattern of infection began. The virus is able to infect based on its environment, from liquid to airborne to blood transmission. It's almost impossible to kill. I couldn't allow it to escape from the hive, so... I took steps." Said the Red queen proudly in a playful tone as Henry enters the chamber.  
**

 **"Steps?" Matt asked.**

 **"You must understand. Those who are infected, I can't allow you to leave."**

 **"We're, we're not infected." Spencer stuttered.**

 **"Just one bite, one scratch from these creatures is sufficient, and then, you become one of them." Rain and the brown hair merc** **enary** **looked down at their wounds. The blood dripping from their wounds were dark and thick.**

 **Henry patted them in the shoulder and asked, "If you made a virus here, then you must have also made an anti-virus also. An unstoppable plague is not profitable for anyone." Rain and the other infected mercenaries looked up hopefully. The Red queen fell into silence.**

 **"Is what he said true?" Shade demanded, the safety of his team was his primary concern now that he knew how Umbrella stabbed him in the back.**

 **"If you don't answer, I'll fry your ass." Kaplan joined in, feeling guilty for the brown hair mercenary's infection. The Red queen seemed to struggle as she weigh the chance of the anti-virus working against self-preservation, "It's been too long since the infection. There's no guarantee of its success."**

 **"Let us worry about that, just tell us where the anti-virus is," Shade pressed.**

 **"It was stolen from the lab and moved to the train, but one of your member brought it with him. It's now beside the computers across the hallway."**

 **"What?" Shade ran back into the room and found the bag Henry left behind lying on the floor.**

 **Henry noticed Spencer seemed distracted, as if he's about to regain his memory, so he asked, "Who stole the anti-virus?"**

 **"Spencer Park." The Red queen replied. Spencer sweat furiously as the mercenaries looked confused by the Red queen's answer.**

 **"Spencer? it was you?" Alice regained her memory at the mention of her husband's name.**

 **"No! It wasn't me! That murderous bitch is lying." His acting was fooling no one as Shade shot him in the head from behind holding the bag in hand. "Exposed Spencer's plot. Award 500 points."** _It seems the slightly earlier exit of the villain who was gonna die anyway is insignificant considering the amount of points and lack of any crystal,_ **Henry made a mental note for himself.**

 **While the medic apply the anti-virus to Rain and the brown hair mercenary, Henry had one last thing to try. "What are those things in Dining hall B?" He asked. The mercenaries really wish Henry hadn't ask because the Red queen's answer on the lickers and the fact that there were over two hundred containers in Dining hall B. Seeing how revealing information to the characters about their final opponent yield him no points, Henry just let the story develop on its own and walk back to the computer room to check up on the others.**

 **"You don't have to stay with us. We're just ordinary people while you've already strengthen yourself with points, and you have the unlimited ammo gun," Strug said as Henry enters the room, "You can definitely get more points by killing zombies and even help kill that licker on the train."**

 **Hughes smiled bitterly, showing weakness for the first time during this whole ordeal, "To be honest, I'd love to stay here. This is my 4th mission into these horror films. I've been way too on edgy. Sometime I've actually considered killing myself just to run away from all of this. Besides, I'd be glad for all of you to make it out of here alive. If there are more of veterans like me, then the chances of survival in this hell hole would be much higher. Alright, it's decided, we're all gonna stay here. Let's just figure out how to convince those mercenaries to let us stay behind."**

 **When the characters came out of the chamber, Hughes told them about how they were planning to stay behind. Shade was stunned by this information as he was just about to explain their route of escape. "What do you mean you guys are staying behind? There isn't much time left. We have to leave here now."**

 **"I mean the five of us are staying behind to wait for the possible rescue team. As you already know, these four people are just ordinary citizens. There's no way they can make it through all those things out there. They will just end up slowing you guys down with them. So us staying here for back up is our best chance of all getting out of here alive." Hughes replied calmly.**

 **"And you? Why are you staying behind as well?"**

 **"Sorry, I regain some of my memories. They are my friends. There's no way I'm leaving my friends here undefended."**

 **Shade pointed at Henry and Strug, "No, they saved my team and I back in that hallway. I can't just leave my teammates behind to die. You guys are coming with us, we can protect you."**

 **Sophia stood up and asked, "Sir, you know our physical strength and stamina. There's no way we can keep up with you guys. So rather than falling behind and turn into one of those things. Why can't you leave us here behind these metal doors and hold out for reinforcement?"**

 **Shade seemed beaten as he said softly, "Understood. Kaplan, turn the laser defense back on once they are inside the chamber, that should give them the best chance of survival. If we make it out of here alive, I will lead the rescue squad back down here for you guys, so don't you dare die on me."**

 **Strug and the group looked through the window bidding the characters farewell. The mercenaries were also looking at them. Both groups were filled with commiseration for each other. "I think they actually feel bad for us," Judah said mockingly, "I wonder what's the look on their faces when the licker catch up to them."**

 **Everyone seem relaxed now that they have three thick steel doors and a laser defense before the last metal door protecting them. Hughes was even smiling for the first time, passing out cigarettes and laughing out loud. "so Hal also have cigarette?" Strug asked as he does not see any brand label yet it was purer, stronger and smoother than any cigarettes he ever had.  
**

 **"Hal has plenty of stuff for sale, as long as you have the points for it. There are so much, more than you could ever read through." Hughes said. "There are four categories overall. Technology based item, with things such as guns, bulletproof vest, bombs, different kinds of antidotes, medicine, even has futuristic versions all those things as well, but they are much more expensive. Mystical magic based item, like spell scrolls, potions, relics, amulets, rings, and enchanted weapons."**

 **"You mean like the items in those fantasy games? They must be really powerful" Judah excitedly ask.**

 **"I don't know how powerful they are, but judging by their price, they have to be. I think they are meant for the ghost or demon type horror films."**

 **"Ghosts?" Strug looked confused.**

 **"Yeah, like the Grudge" Everyone checked their surrounding even though they know they are in Resident evil.**

 **"I think I finally understand why you said this is an easy horror movie now, because this can be explained with technology and logic. You can see and fight the monsters. You can run away and hide. As long as you're not infected with the T-virus and has enough ammunition, you'll be fine here." Sophia said.**

 **"Those that can't be explained with technology and logic, they are where the true horror lies," Hughes said with a shaking voice. "You don't know when you'll die. You don't know how you'll die. You don't even know if you're dead or not. The horror follows you wherever you go. The endless terror will drag you to the depths of hell."**

 **Strug sat down next time Hughes and pat him on the shoulder, "Nightmare on elm street?" Hughes nod sadly, "You couldn't even imagine what we went through. Over a dozen of us dead, each dying more disgusting and horrifying than the last. We all ran. One of the veteran hijacked a car. No one dare to sleep. If any one of us dozed off, the rest of us would wake him up immediately. We drove on the freeway for five days straight just like that. Finally we came across a town. When we drove in we realize it was the town we're trying to escape from. And our driver, the veteran, became Freddy when we weren't looking. He just started laughing as he slowly walk towards us."**

 **Hughes seem like he was gonna have a breakdown so Strug try to change the subject, "So you think we'd be able to kill him if we have those mystical weapons?"**

 **"I don't know, that was my first mission in this place. I survived purely by luck. You want to know how I got this scar on my face? That monster cut my face up with a pair of scissor. I told Hal not to heal this scar on purpose. So I'll remember him every time I look into the mirror. If I ever see him again, I'm gonna kill him." Hughes said coldly. "Hal will give you 1 B crystal and 5000 points for killing Freddy, that was the only time I've ever seen crystal being given."**

 **"What is a B crystal? Is it really important?" Strug asked eagerly .**

 **"That brings us to the third category of things you can get from Hal: Enhancement. For example, You can buy Spiderman's power for the low price of 2000 points, which gives you an increase of 20 Intellect, 20 Spirit, 50 Vitality, 100 Dexterity, 100 Constitution, and power to shoot spider webs."**

 **This new information left Strug and the others in shock while Sophia did the math in her head, "Buying those stats on their own cost over three thousand points, that sounds like a steal, how come you didn't buy that power?"**

 **"Of course I wanted to. If I had Spiderman's power I would practically be invincible in this place. But things in this category cost different ranks of crystal to buy. There are five ranks of crystals: D, C, B, A, and S, with D being the lowest and S the highest. Three crystals of the lower rank can be combined into a higher rank, and vice versa. And the side mission to kill Freddy was the only time I've ever seen a crystal being given."**

 **"Which rank of crystal does the Spiderman's power require?" Strug asked, holding back the excitement in his voice.**

 **"That requires a B crystal. I also saw some D rank powers as well, such as the Chinese chi for 1 D crystal and 500 points, which gives 10 Spirit, 20 Vitality, 20 Dexterity, 30 Constitution, and small amount of chi. The more advanced kung fu cost the upward of B and A crystal to get. Oh, Hal also has the T-virus power for sale at the price of 1 C crystal and 1500 points, which gives 20 Intellect, 20 Spirit, 50 Vitality, 50 Dexterity, 50 Constitution, and opens different evolution path of different strains of viruses. Alice is quite lucky to get such a good power for free."**

 **Strug was now lost in his own fantasy of becoming superman with the points he got while Henry and the others listen to Hughes described some more, "There are also some of those S rank powers and bloodlines, but I'm sure Hal just put them there to mess with us. Like the god status for the price of 1 S rank crystal and 50000 points, which gives you the corresponding power of god, the body that can omit up to a certain level of attack, highly pardoning divinity, and the precepts of god. Dark phoenix power for the price of 1 S crystal and 50000 points, which turns you into a level 5 mutant, and gives you the destructive phoenix force."** _So we got Chinese mystical power, movie mutation and virus, god status from DnD board game, and comic book mutant power,_ Henry thought, _if Hal can just give these away, then who or whatever created Hal must be even more powerful than all of them. If something is that powerful, what could it possibly want with a bunch of depressed and self-refuting people?_

 **"You mentioned there were four categories, but I think you pretty much covered everything with the first three. What is the fourth category about?" Sophia asked as she was the only one who's mind didn't wander off.**

 **"The fourth one is filled with goodies. There are only so much stress a mind can take from surviving in these horror movies. The things in this category can help you decompress, from everything kind of drugs imaginable, to movies, music, even woman!"**

 **"I'm not interested in rubber blow up dolls," Strug laughed.**

 **"Not blow up dolls, real human being with independent thoughts, personality, even memories. You can choose every single detail of the woman you create. You can create someone with more hair than a** gorilla **if you're into that sort of thing," Hughes laugh. "When I don't know if I'll make it through the next horror movie, I wanted to have someone I like be there with me. You'll see once you've created your own, she's not some doll or robot. Even though she's created by Hal, she's more real than most people I've met. And she really loves you, you can share all your fear and cowardice with her. I've checked with Hal on this already, if you have the 50000 points to leave this place, she will come with you, along with any and everything you brought. If I ever make it out of this place alive, I will marry her. She's worth spending the rest of my life with." Hughes said with his eyes closed and smiling more peaceful than they've ever seen him, as if he had already achieved his dream.**

 **Before Sophia could ask anymore question, Hughes suddenly stood up and walked to the door looking through the window, causing the group to gather around him trying to find out what he's looking at, but there's nothing but the light across the hallway at the computer room. "Red queen, give me a status report on what's going on outside of the chamber!" Hughes shouted.**

 **"Lickers are attacking the outer door of the computer room. The door will last 40 seconds." Red queen never failed to deliver bad news.**

 **"Shit, I knew it couldn't possibly be this easy. Our scent must of attracted the lickers. Thank God we're hiding in here. Those outer doors doesn't stand a chance." Hugh said as he checks his watch, "16 more minutes till we leave this place. Let's hope the laser defense will be able to hold them off till then."**

 **Strug doesn't want to die here, especially since he had a chance to make it out of here with the points and crystals he got, so he asked, "Red queen, calculate how much longer will your defenses last," The Red queen didn't answer this time. Strug waited a moment before pulling the gun and pointing it at the Red queen's main frame. "I know your goal is to stop the spread of the T-virus. which means you'll eliminate any possible carrier that would spread the virus, including us right? Now you'll have to make a choice. Either activate your laser defense and protect us, or stand by and let the licker kill us, but I will destroy you before that happens, so you won't be able to control the hive and will let loose all the infected you've trapped here. What's it gonna be?"**

 **There was another pause before the Red queen finally asked, "May I ask why you're deciding to struggle? Since you've chose to stay here and sacrifice yourself so your teammates can make it out alive?"**

 **"Don't question human decision. You're just a computer, know your place." Sophia chimed in, "besides, we're already staying here. Our death would have no impact on the spreading of the virus, so why don't you protect us? My little Red queen dear."**

 **"Understood, the lickers will not get through the final defense." As they chatted away, the lickers has already made it through the first door and is now tearing through the second metal door just outside the hallway. After a few loud noises of nails scratching through metal, they would even see a bit of the lickers through the hole they made.**

 **"What incredible strength, if I had the inf. ammo rocket launcher I could just open the door and kill them all to get so much points." Hughes laughed.**

 **"The inf. ammo desert eagle costed you 100 points. How much does the inf. rocket launcher cost?" Strug asked.**

 **"Expensive as hell, even the single shot rocket launcher already costs 100 points. I rather spend the points on strengthening myself, because not every horror film can be solved with guns."  
The second door didn't last too long either. Two lickers broke through the door and started crawling on the bulletproof glass, interrupting their conversation. These lickers had already consumed human DNA and grew over ten feet long with their tongues reaching three feet out. Their front claws were larger than ever and polished to shine unlike when they were still inside the container. Their basic instincts to hunt and feed were in conflict with their animal senses which were warning them against this hallway. The fact that their prey stood behind minor obstacle seem to taunt them quite nicely as the two lickers finally worn out their patient and took one giant leap towards the group. While the lickers were in mid air, the Red queen activated the laser defense and sliced both of them in half. Strug and the rest of the group watched as 4 halves of lickers landed on the floor, twisting and making an otherworldly screech for a quite few seconds before finally drawing their last breath. Strug collapsed while looking down at his handgun as it provides him with no confidence whatsoever against these fully developed lickers.**

 **Hughes pulls out some more cigarettes and passed them out to everyone including Judah before lighting his own and took one big inhale, "Now do you guys know just how terrifying this place is? I've been through several scenarios like that where my life was hanging on a thread, surviving only by luck. I don't even know how I ever made it through 3 horror films." Hughes's voice was broken up and filled with fear. Strug and Sophia exchanged a bitter smile as they reacted even worse than Hughes when those lickers charged at them. They just simply froze in place, unable to move. Had the Red queen not saved them, the lickers would make quick work of them as they wouldn't even run away at all. "We're almost out of here. The laser defense system shouldn't have any problem holding them off. We'll be..."**

 **Before Hughes could finish his sentence, lighting of the entire lab faded away. Strug immediately ran to the door, only to find laser hallway to be out of power as well. "Fuck, the story! How could I forget about this part of the story?!" Hughes roared crazily, "do you guys remember this part of the story?"**

 **Henry smacked himself in the forehead and said, "Kaplan fried the Red queen to get people out of the lab." Now the only thing standing between them and the lickers just outside in Dining Hall B is this metal door. Everyone fell into silence as they knew even the tiniest noise could attract the unknown amount of lickers still hanging around just outside the computer room. Even though they don't dare to speak a single word, their breathing became increasingly heavy and their heartbeats were more rapid than ever.**

 **After losing track of time in the darkness, a faint pant came from outside the door, then the glass scratching noise they were all too familiar with. Henry could tell it was another full grown licker without even looking. He recalled the final battle between Alice and that licker on the train last no more than a few minutes before they made it out before the mansion door mansion sealed shut. And that final battle was right after Kaplan fried the Red queen. The question was, how long had passed since the light went out?**

 **The licker's pant is just outside the doorway.** **They could even hear scratching sounds on the door. "Bang!" The licker's claw striking the door send everyone running to the back of the room. A faint light shined through the door. One strike from the licker has pierced the thick metal door. Everyone's attention was at that feeble door which was the only thing stopping the licker from having a nice messy meal. The loud banging continues as the licker repeatedly strike the door. The group's hearts skips a beat in rhyme with every bang. Finally the hole on the metal door is big enough for the licker to fit both of his claws through. The door was torn apart by the licker like it was only sliced bread. Henry, Strug and Hughes shouted at the top of their lungs, firing their weapons wildly, missing every shot. The licker tossed away the two door pieces and let out an high screech before leaping towards them.**


	2. Chapter 2

_Am, am I dead?_ ** **Henry could still smell the stink on the licker's claws in front of his face just a second ago, preparing to be sliced up like a nice piece of steak, but now he is standing on a white, circular platform. The edge of the platform is pitch black, like the clearest night sky without stars or cloud. Doors evenly distributed along the circumference. The only light source here is a giant floating globe bright like the sun yet not damaging to the eyes. Underneath the globe is a timer counting down at 9 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes.****

 ** **"Hahaha, we made it," Hughes's voice got everyone's attention. "Just in the nick of time, we survived." One of the door burst open with a woman rushing towards Hughes. Hughes held the woman in his arm with a gentle expression on his face for a while before kissing her like there was no tomorrow. "If you guys have any question just ask Hal. You can communicate with it telepathically," Hughes said as the couple walk towards their room. "Don't get anything other than making a woman for yourself. Let's have a meeting tomorrow and talk it all out. Oh by the way, just grab the handle of a plain door and you can create whatever room you imagine to live in."****

 ** **"How could he in the mood for sex when we just narrowly escape death not even a minute ago?" Sophia smacking her forehead, then she noticed the three other men has already walked under Hal and closed their eyes. Strug and Judah both have their eyes closed with a pervert smile on their face while Henry stood emotionless. "You guys are all idiots. All of you are just thinking with your second head." Sophia just shook her head and walked towards to one of the room, stood at the door with her hand on the handle for a bit, then opened the door and slammed it before her. The door slam woke Strug and Judah up as they exchanged a slightly embarrassed look before closing their eyes again.****

 ** **Henry paid no attention to what just happened as he was just relishing the strange experience of communicating with Hal. When he closed his eyes under Hal, it's as if he had been absorbed into the glowing light ball. It feels like his consciousness is suspended in midair like the zero gravity experience, except he had total control over the direction of where his mind goes. What appeared in front of him like a futuristic computer screen where information were labeled in different locations.****

 ** **To his left, his five stats are listed, Intellect: 110, Spirit: 94, Vitality: 86, Dexterity: 120, Constitution: 70. Other than Intellect and Dexterity being slightly above average, every single one of Henry's stats are below what a normal human should be, most likely due to Henry spending most of his time sitting in front of a computer. To the right is a list of the current amount of crystals and points: 2 C crystals and 4622 points. At the center is one large screen divided into four categories: Technology, Mystical, Enhancement, and Miscellaneous. When Henry selected the Enhancement category, an explosion of different items expanded in front of him, with just a few of the powers he recognized coming from TV shows, anime, comic book, manga, movies, novels, and video games.****

 _Dammit, isn't there a search engine or sorting method for this?_ ** **Hal's voice appeared out of nowhere, "Keyword searching and advanced sorting are only available to team captain. Rank and miscellaneous sorting are available to all team members."**** _Team captain? Since Hughes was the only one that survived from the movie before last, he would be the most likely person to be the team captain. He did tell us not to buy anything till tomorrow, guess I'll just ask him about it then._ ** **Henry thought as he moved over to miscellaneous. This category is equally messy with every kind of items imaginable from materials like iron, gold, and diamond, to every type of food and beverage, even dangerous stuff like gunpowder, Vaseline, and uranium. The selection of humanoid creation and return to previous movies were also in here. "Looks like I'm gonna be here for a while, I miss reading video game Wikipedia pages." Henry said as he opened his eyes. He was alone on the platform. Strug and Judah went into their own room already.****

 ** **Hughes and Sophia were the first to wake up. When they found Henry sitting under Hal with his eyes closed, Sophia asks, "J.M., how much sleep did you get? Or did you stay here all night?"****

 ** **"I'm a night owl, and my biological clock is still adjusting to the no day night cycle, so I figure I do some research on Hal's menu and organize some information. I only slept for one hour, but I'll get to that when I share my finding once everybody gets here. Would you guys like to wake Strug and Judah up? They might be too tired from all the fun they had last night." Henry replies. Before Hughes could knock on Strug's door, Strug came bursting out of his room and closed his eyes with a disbelieved look on his face under Hal.****

 ** **"What's the matter with him?" Henry looked over to Hughes.****

 ** **"I don't know, maybe he found out about something we didn't know about." Hughes replied.****

 ** **"Can you guys give me just one second?" Strug said after talking to Hal. Before anyone could ask him what was going on, Strug ran back to his room in such a hurry he didn't even close his door all the way. Through the crack Strug left open, Henry and the others could see him talking to a clearly underage girl, sixteen at the most, while the girl was crying in his arm.****

 ** **"Well, either Strug is gonna come out as a pedophile or he's gonna have something crazy to tell us, I'm gonna go get Judah for this." Hughes laughed and knocked on Judah's door. A tan skin woman with long silk smooth hair opened the door, politely inviting Hughes in while she knocked on the bedroom door. After he heard a bit of rummaging, Judah walked out of the room looking exhausted with huge eyebags.****

 ** **"Just because you're young doesn't mean you shouldn't be moderate about this kind of thing kid. I'd laugh if you survived through the horror movie just to die on top of a woman," Hughes laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "Anyhow, Strug and Henry seem to made some interesting discovery about this place, wanna come along and hear about it?" Judah was glad Hughes changed the subject as his face was bright red.****

 ** **When the group knock on Strug's door, they could see the little girl blushed and pushed Strug out of the bedroom. "Stop giving me the weird look you guys," Strug sighed when he noticed everyone's outburst of curiosity and slight hint of judgement, "Her name is Lolli. She's my childhood sweetheart."****

 ** **"We grew up in the concrete jungle where people are neighbors for decades without learning each other's names. My parents are the outgoing type. They loved to invite people over for dinner or sports night, a rare trait for city people. Her family happens to be share that same trait, so we were close. Our families has been neighbors for as long as I can remember. She's smart, kind, and strong. Unlike her timid appearance, she's always energetic and filled with laughter. She will not be intimidated by anything life can throw at her," Strug said with a soft smile on his face, gazing into the distance, reminiscing the past.****

 ** **"But how can life be so fragile? She was only fifteen years old when she was lying on that hospital bed. Her beautiful hairs were all gone due to radiation therapy. Her face had lost its usual bloom, replaced with pale white. Her smile was as hearty as ever, even though I know it was only to comfort us." Strug's smile is now faded, his eyes lost focus. "What is life, really? One moment she was smiling, hanging on my neck, and laughing next to my ear, the next she was just a pile of ash in a jar. My life after that seem like a blur. One college sex party after another. Got into some company after graduation. One bar slut after another. One club after another. Wasn't too long before I picked up on drug as well. I think that's why Hal picked me, because my life was just a joke after her."****

 ** **"I originally wanted to make someone with a familiar face and personality. I didn't know Hal could actually bring her back to life based on my memory." Strug said with a bitter smile. The curiosity and judgement on everyone's face are now replaced by surprise.****

 ** **"That's incredible. Hal can actually recreate a person from our memory? I've been through 4 missions now and I've never even heard about this. I guess we've only scratched the surface of what Hal is truly capable of." Hughes said in amazement.****

 ** **"I don't care if it's the domain of God, or the arena of Satan. I just want to live. I will get enough points to bring her back to the real world with me." Strug said while everyone fell silent. "I'm betting you guys don't want to die either. I suggest we form a group, because we don't know which horror film will be next, and there's only so much we can do as an individual."****

 ** **"Look at you, all lively and energetic, even Judah who lost his virginity didn't change as much as you did. That girl must be really important to you." Sophia said smiling while poking fun at Judah, who blushed immediately.****

 ** **"What's with the blushing? There's nothing to be embarrassed about becoming a man." Hughes laughed and pat Judah on the back.****

 ** **"Alright, if we're gonna form a group, then I vote Strug to be the captain." Henry suddenly said.****

 ** **"Me? Captain? No, I think Hughes should be the captain since he has the most experience out of all of us." Strug declined.****

 ** **"I agree with J.M. actually. Maybe you weren't captain material yesterday, but after you revived your girlfriend, you are full of energy. I think you're now the perfect captain." Hughes replied.****

 ** **"I second that." Sophia and Judah both said.****

 ** **"Since we've decided to form a group, I got some finding I want to share. Why don't we come over to my room? Let's have our first team meeting." Henry said standing up.****

 ** **The group sat down at a round table in Henry's room. "Here are just a small list of things that Hal offers, no where near everything that it has." Henry said handing everyone each a stack of paper.****

 ** **The list was done in excel with each item listed by name, description, and cost. Henry sat patiently while everyone read over the information.****

 ** **"Hey Hughes, I guess Hal's selection really is as crazy as you say." Strug said rubbing his temple, "from weird anime power to nuclear bomb to star destroyer. If you tell me all of this just 24 hours ago I wouldn't believe a single word you say, but now after everything we've been through, guess I have to believe it."****

 ** **"You say that, but look at this enhancement, 'God - grants corresponding power of god, the body that can withstand a certain level of attack, highly pardoning divinity, and the precepts of god.' If I buy that and go back to the our world, I'd be unstoppable. Are you kidding me with that 50000 points price tag, and what's this S crystal thing and how do I get it?" Judah asked.****

 ** **"You didn't pay attention when Hughes talked about the crystals did you," Henry replied, "Crystals has 5 different ranks: D, C, B, A, and S. It takes 3 lower rank to combine and create a higher rank, and vice versa. So a S rank crystal takes 3 A rank crystals, or 81 D rank crystals."****

 ** **"As for how to get these crystals, I think I might have found a way," Strug chimed in. "When you disrupt the plot development, like saving Shade in that laser tunnel, or defeating enemies that originally doesn't die, like Freddy, you'll be rewarded with points and crystals." Then Strug explain how he hear Hal's voice and was rewarded 1 B crystal and 5000 points for saving Shade's life.****

 ** **"So then just how much points do you have now?" Sophia quietly asked.****

 ** **"1 B and 6015 points, I'm guessing the 15 came from zombie kills."****

 ** **"I knew I was right to put my vote on you. I fought through hell in four horror movies and got just over 4000 points, yet just in your first movie you already got over 6000. You're definitely gonna be the strongest one out of all of us in the next mission." Hughes said enviously.****

 ** **"You've got 1 B crystal and 5000 points from saving Shade's life?" Henry said with curiously in his voice. "It seems Hal award points and ranks of crystal based on how important the character is. I saved 3 mercenaries but only the medic gave me a C crystals while the other two only gave me a D crystal each. This is good. The stronger our team is, the better chance we got in surviving the movies. That reminds me, since we'll participating in this survival game, don't you think there's something we haven't done?"****

 ** **"What haven't we done? You mean strengthening ourselves by spending points at Hal?" Judah looked confused.****

 ** **"No, I'm talking about understanding what does Hal want from us, kind of like reading the instruction menu before diving head first into any game. If we decide to try out best to survive, then we should figure out how we are going to survive. I mean, do you think we're still have rights like the outside world?"****

 ** **Hughes nod in agreement, "Cruel but accurate. We do have a different set of rules in here than we do outside. At the very least a zombie or licker isn't going to care if you deserve to die or not. When Hal erase you it wouldn't care if you're guilty or not."****

 ** **"Hughes is exactly right. If the rules of the outside world doesn't apply here anymore, then we need to find a new set of rules to live by in this place. I think we should consider ourselves as gladiators. Live or die at the whim of our master, so we need to figure out just what our master, Hal in this case, want from us. That's the only way to survive, by adapting and changing according to what Hal wants"****

 ** **"Then just what exactly does Hal want from us?" Strug said slamming his hand on the table.****

 ** **"Beats me, I tried asking Hal that and got no response," Strug seemed beaten by Henry's answer before Henry continue. "But just because Hal hasn't saying a word doesn't mean we can't read between the lines. In fact Hal has given us plenty of hints already."****

 ** **Henry points at the information he prints out, "Take Hughes' gun for example, the infinite ammo desert eagle costs 100 points. The regular desert eagle only costs 10 points, and it also comes with a thousand bullets. I also did the math, buying the assembly lines and the appropriate materials to create a hundred desert eagles and the complimentary bullets that Hal give will cost 200 points. Of course the assembly lines can create more than just one type of gun."****

 ** **"So just in the subtle hints of obtaining weapon, we get a glimpse into a wide range of options that Hal silently permits us," Henry pulled out a pillow and said, "Sophia, you were asking how much sleep I got last night? I only slept for one hour, thanks to this pillow made based on future technology. It's able to induce deep sleep when someone rest on it. The pillow also comes with a magnetic therapeutic bed, allowing the user to relax both the brain and body in just one hour. And it seems that things does not affect combat directly gets a major discount because this pillow and bed only cost me 30 points in a bundle."****

 ** **"We may not know for certain what is Hal's intention for bringing us here. But the rewards and the Enhancements are definitely the sign that Hal want us to become stronger. If we go back to the gladiator metaphor, this would mean Hal want us to put on a good show," Henry continues. "And not just stronger as an individual, but as a team also, otherwise Hal could easily just throw each of us into horror films one by one. Hal also provided different paths to achieve the same goal, hinting at us to use our wits and carefully consider our choices when faced with any challenges."****

 ** **"You're throwing out lots of informations at once," Sophia looked around at the spaced out people. "Can you consolidate your findings so it would be easier for us to discuss?"****

 ** **Henry nodded and took a deep breath before summarizing, "First and foremost, attitude. By that I mean how we should accept our role in this new surrounding. Since we can't change our circumstance, then we must change ourselves to adapt to it if we want to survive. Hal does not want us to just run away from danger for 50 missions then go home. Last time we hid inside the Red queen's chamber instead of going with the group to face the licker, Hal sent some lickers to us instead. Just like in the gladiator arena, we wouldn't be able to hide in our cell, we must fight for our lives or Hal will just sent the danger our way."****

 ** **"Second, tempo. By that I mean pacing in this survival game. We get a ten days break in between each horror movies to prepare ourselves. The difficulty of our mission is linked to how many of us will be sent into the movie. Our last mission only has one veteran, which is Hughes, but the next mission we'll have five veterans. So our next mission will definitely be more difficult than our last. We must find a way to control the pacing of difficulty before it goes out of control."****

 ** **"Third, tech path. By that I mean how we should go about getting stronger, since it's the only way to survive the increasingly difficult missions Hal will most likely sent us into. Not only should we keep an eye out for any possible bonus rewards, but how we should effectively spend our points and crystals as well."****

 ** **"Fourth, set up. By that I mean our roles in the team. Since we're sent into mission as a team, we need to work together and watch each other's back, and also being able to hold our own should we get separated. There are only five of us now, but there's bound to be more people coming in as we move forward. For the new people coming in, I suggest we set up some type of trial and observe them before deciding on whether or not we should allow them into the group."****

 ** **"Last, exploration. By that I mean the wealth of mystery surrounding Hal. How did we get here? Why sent us into different movies? What does Hal ultimately want from us? We may not ever find the answer behind all of these questions, but I believe the more we explore these mystery, the better we'd be at controlling our own destiny, perhaps even escape this place. These five things are all that I could come up with in seven hours. If I missed anything feel free to point it out, if not then I like to listen to Hughes describe the five different stats Hal listed because he has first hand experience on what happens once Hal strengthen us."****

 ** **The information overload seem to have left everyone speechless for a while until Sophia raised a question, "J.M., what do you do in the real world? You seemed so quiet and kept to yourself in the movie but now you're given lecture almost as if there are two different persons."****

 ** **"I'm just a gamer with a nine to five job," Henry explained. "The reason I was quiet back then was because I was focused on survival in a strange environment. As for the informations I just compiled, that was nothing compared to the pages after pages of wikipedia on different games I've spend time studying. I'm just used to digging up informations when developers like to hide them."****

 ** **"Oh I almost forgot to mention," Henry smack himself on the forehead. "Hal really does have everything imaginable for sale, including the notebook from 'Death note'. We need to come up with nicknames to call each other because there are plenty of horror movies villains who can cast jinx or hex based on name."****

 ** **"Guess it's my turn to explain things," Hughes said everyone quiet down after Henry's presentation. "Hal gives us five different stats to strength with points: Intellect, Spirit, Vitality, Dexterity, and Constitution."****

 ** **"Based on what I've tested and strengthened, intellect has to do with memory and the speed at which we process information in our brain. I'm not too sure what spirit actually does since I don't even know how to test it at all. Vitality has to do with how fast our body heals and how fast we catch our breath after we exercise."****

 ** **"Dexterity and Constitution are the most noticeable when strengthened and should also be on our top priority. Dexterity increase our reflexes and dynamic perception, when it's strong enough, you can even see the movement of bullets. Of course just having good reflexes won't be enough when your body can't keep up with your mind, that's where Constitution come in. The higher this stat is, the stronger your body will be, which includes strength and speed. Not only that, it also increase the durability, making it harder to tear your muscle."****

 ** **"That's pretty much it as far as Enhancement goes. As for items, I don't recommend you two to buy anything yet," Hugh said to Sophia and Judah. "You should put your focus on Vitality, Dexterity and Constitution, especially the latter two, otherwise just another long-distance running will kill you."****

 ** **"As for you two, I say you guys should get something from Enhancement, spend some points in four stats I mentioned." Hugh turned to Strug and Henry. "Bottom line is, you two should be the strongest of us in the following few horror films. If possible, buy some type of Mystical weapon."****

 ** **"I think out of all the horror movies that I've seen, the most dangerous one should be The Grudge and the like that can't be explain by science and kills you with barely any explanation, even freddy from Nightmare on elm street should fall under this category." Strug nodded in agreement.****

 ** **"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go check them out." Judah said. Everyone seemed excited at the prospect becoming stronger as they walked towards Hal.****

 ** **Strug took a deep breath before closing his eyes under Hal. A moment later, he was lifted up by a beam of light shining from Hal as shiny particles submerged into his body. This goes on for quite a few minutes before Strug came back down.****

 ** **"Honey come quick," Hughes shouted. "Jesus has returned."****

 ** **Henry and Judah were mesmerized by the whole event while Sophia kept her cool. She turned to Hughes and asked, "Is it going to be like this when any of us strengthen ourselves?"****

 ** **"No, usually some particles shine down from Hal into you and you feel your body getting noticeably stronger, but this is way more crazy than anything I've seen. He must of gotten something really powerful."****

 ** **Strug finally comes down from the light beam. Something is now different about him. He was just an above average looking white collar before, but now he's eerily handsome. Something about his present changed as now he would not easily forgotten even in a large crowd.****

 ** **Henry was fascinated by this change. "What kind of Enhancement did you get? You seem very different now."****

 ** **"I exchanged the B crystal into 3 C crystals and turned 1 of the C crystals into 3 D crystals as well. Right now I just brought the Beginner Chi Enhancement for 1 D 500 points; Baron Vampiric Enhancement for 1 D 800 points; Intermediate Chi Enhancement for 1 C 1200 points; Viscount Vampiric Enhancement for 1 C 1500 points. Total cost wa and 4000 points."****

 ** **"Two different enhancements? Why did you choose a combination of powers?"****

 ** **"I thought this one through," Strug said proudly. "First off, vampire's survivability is amazing. When you get to Earl rank, as long as either your head or your heart isn't destroy, you will continue to regenerate. And according to Hal, this is an mutated bloodline so I won't be weak in the sun or affected by silver, but the trade off is I can't create off springs. As for Chi, I'm a big fan of Chinese kung fu. It can greatly increase my physical quality and attack power for a short period of time. So with these two, I've got offense and defense taken care of. Since these two powers work differently, they don't clash with each other. Plus, both powers goes up all the way to S rank with the previous rank being the prerequisite and there are plenty of abilities from both powers to choose from. I got longevity down as well. If I were to get something like the spiderman's power for the 1 B crystal that I have, I may be more powerful in the beginning, but it will be very difficult to get stronger from there."****

 ** **"Can you show me the result of your enhancement? I still haven't decided on what kind of power I want since I spend most of my time sorting things out yesterday."****

 ** **"So I got some energy source called Chi and vampiric power. Hal infused the knowledge of how to train and use Chi into me. Right now it feels like a warm bag in my abdomen at the perfect temperature. If I concentrate, I can feel as if something is going to burst out from my brain as well. Most of my stats are almost three times what the average human is. It's as if the world got polished, I can see the markings on the handles of the doors." Strug said as he jumped 10 feet high, did two back flip before landing perfectly on his feet. As soon as he landed, Strug crouched slightly and dashed around everyone with the speed and agility like greyhound. Hughes and Henry were the only two who can keep track of his movement as Strug dashed around everyone.****

 ** **"What's bothering you? You seem perplexed by something?" Strug asked Henry.****

 ** **"Wow, your eyesight really has improved a lot. I barely narrowed my eyebrows," Henry said in amazement. "I was just confused by what you've display here. You've just spend 2 C crystals in strengthening yourself. How do you think you would do against spider man?"****

 ** **Strug was stunned by the question and thought of Spiderman's danger sense, agility, and the fact that he physically stopped a moving train. "I stand no chance against him whatsoever."****

 ** **"That's what I was thinking also," Henry nodded. "But Spiderman is only rank B, and you have 2 C rank Enhancement. Why wouldn't you at least be able to put up a good fight? One explanation, I think, is that when Hal give us these Enhancement, it push us up to the entry level that barely qualify at the rank that we purchase. In other words, had you chose the Spiderman power, you still wouldn't stand a chance against the Spiderman we saw in Spiderman 2 because that one is well trained, familiar with his power, and pushed to almost the peak of that power's potential, whereas you will most likely be like the dorky novice Spiderman in the first Spiderman movie."****

 ** **"I have some basic understand of how Chi work. It takes hard work, talent, and countless hours to obtain and improve. As for vampire, they get stronger the older they are. An hundred years old vampire wouldn't stand a chance against a thousand years old, unless we're talking about protagonist, in which case, all logic and reason goes out the window because all hail the protagonist aura," Henry smacked himself in the forehead. "Sorry, I went off on a on a tangent. What I meant to say was, I think I've decided on which power I want: Demon hunter. Because that's a class that specialized in absorbing power and making it your own. So I don't need to follow the normal path Hal laid out with low, middle and high class demons, but rather just infuse the demonic power according to their age: Infant, Juvenile, Adult, and Perfect. If Illidan is able to use the full extent of the power as soon as he got it from Sargeras, then I should be able to as well. All I need to make sure is to keep up control whatever demonic power I absorb."****

 ** **"But are you sure you want to go with that beastly looking horn and crazy tattoos?" Strug asked. "His appearance is wild to say the least."****

 ** **"Nah, he isn't the only demon hunter. And the reason for his other worldly appearance has to do with the fact that he got his power from the fallen titan. I got another equally powerful demon in my mind: The Legendary Dark Knight Sparda from my favorite game series Devil May Cry," Henry's voice was filled with excitement.****

 ** **"And the best part is, from father to sons, all three of the dark knights show no mental issue or other side effect from their demonic side even when they are in full demon form, and they are all damn good looking as well," Henry explained as he walked towards Hal. "Hal, how much is Demon hunter infused with the infant demonic power of dark knight Sparda? I also want the ability Dash from DMC as well."****

 ** **"Demon hunter infused with infant dark knight power: 1 C crystals 2000 points. Infused power trait: Weapon Mastery and improved life force. As long as brain and heart are not completely destroyed, body will continuously regenerate," Hal's signature robotic voice echoed in Henry's head. "Dash: 1 C crystal 1500 points. A quick burst of speed propels the player forward. Total cost 2 C 3500 points, confirm exchange?"****

 ** **"Yes." With the mental confirmation from Henry, light shine down from Hal lifting Henry into mid air. Countless light partials merged into his body. He felt as if he was in a sauna with the perfect temperature. A warm sensation float through every inch of his body.**** _So this is what it's like to have demonic power_ , ****Henry thought as Hal infused the demonic power alongside the knowledge on how to use the Dash ability into him.****

 ** **The enhancement last a few minutes before Henry landed back down with drastic changes to his appearance. His black hair has now become silver like Dante. His eyes are now light red with pupil being a few shade darker. His muscle has also strengthened as all the excess fat on his body disappeared.****

 ** **Henry's appearance change was nothing compared to what he can feel on the inside. A force now floats through his body at his will with the knowledge of how to use the ability Dash popped up in his head.**** _Focus the energy towards the lower half body, imagine them in the shape of springs pushing towards the desired location._ ** **As soon as Henry thought of the instruction, he can feel his body becoming as light as a feather. One small jump propelled Henry ten feet in the air. Just like Strug, Henry started dashing around, but unlike Strug, who has full control over his new found power and improved body. Henry crashed right into a door.****

 ** **"Are you alright?" Strug, being the second fastest in the group, went over to help Henry back up.****

 ** **"Yeah, I'm alright, just a little banged up," Henry shook his head a bit. "Now I know how tough the door and my new body are," He added jokingly. "We only have nine days for training. I'm not sure if I'd be able have full control over this in such short amount of time. I need more time. Hey Hughes, is there any restriction on going back to the previous world that you mention other than the 10 points a day?"****

 ** **"Yes, you're only allowed to travel once per break. Hal sends you back around where you were teleported out from that world." Hughes replied.****

 ** **"Alright, that means I've got plenty of shooting target to practice on as well," Henry grinned. "Since Hal will most likely sent us back to the hive instead of above ground. We'll need some weapons to defend ourselves. Guess I'll get cracking on that assembly line."****

 ** **"Wait, what do you mean us?" Judah asked. "Who's going with you?"****

 ** **"Well I think we should all go," Henry said matter of factly. "Training and practice can only do so much. We didn't really get the chance to fight in the last mission, at best we've watched a horror movie up close. If we don't seize the chance to face monsters head on, especially zombies, which honestly is on the very bottom rank as far as horror monsters goes, we won't stand a chance in the next mission. May I remind you that Hughes was the only veteran in the last mission. There will be five veterans in the next mission. If we can't even fight in a world that we've already lived through, then let's just all pop sleeping pills and cash out right now."****

 ** **"But we only have 1000 points, how much will I have left if I spend some of it buying time to the last mission, especially since I have to strengthen myself and buy weapons?" Judah still seemed reluctant.****

 ** **"Alright, save the points on weapons and use that for buying time. I was planning on making the guns myself anyway. Since materials are dirt cheap compared to the finished product anyway, I'll make the weapons for anyone who comes with me. How's that sound? Of course, I don't plan on going back right now, but rather on the second to last day, so we'll have some training with guns and get used to our new bodies and go back to Resident evil at our peak." Henry started throwing incentive into the mix.****

 ** **"I'll go," Sophia chimed in. "I won't miss any chance to get first hand combat experience."****

 ** **"I'm not sure about this," Hughes sounded hesitant.****

 ** **"Count me in as well," Strug seemed eager to try out his new found abilities. "I'm pretty sure I am faster than the lickers right now. So unless they got anything worse than that, all I have to worry about is being too surrounded by large numbers of them."****

 ** **"It's three against two then, I guess that settles it," Sophia said. "Shall we figure out what weapons to bring for the fight? I still want to use some C4s."****

 ** **"No, if they don't want to go, then we shouldn't force them into it," Henry rejected. "People have to take responsibility for their own lives. We're not going on a field trip, but I believe the reward outweighs the danger."****

 ** **So the following eights days consists of nothing but eating, training, and watching horror movies. Henry had the dark humor of putting the banner "Every death could be your future." The only thing worth mentioning was that Henry made a human through Hal to help with creating guns and bullets since he had to focus on training.****

 ** **On the eighth day, Henry walked out of his room and said, "Hey guys, here at Henry Weapons Industries, firearms aren't the only thing being made. After eights days of nonstop working with blueprints purchased at Hal, I present you with equipment enough to start a small war: Three full body AR500 armors; Three US pasgt Kevlar helmet with gas mask attached; Six Mark XIX .50 AE magnums; Three AK 47 for reliability in any environment; a Grenade Launcher per Sophia's demand; and ammunition enough to level hive itself." As Henry mentioned each item, he wave his hand and said item dropped from mid air. "All of these are a lot to carry even with the three of us armed to the teeth. so I spend 400 points on an unstable storage call the 'Space Interstice', which opens up a thirty cubic feet of pocket dimension. This space slowly deteriorate after ten days and completely disappear along with all items in it after fifteen days, but it can be delayed for up thirty days if sustained by mystical power."****

 ** **"Hal, sent us to the previous world for twenty days." Henry shouted after Strug and Sophia confirmed they are ready to go.****

 ** **Light shine down on Strug, Sophia and Henry. After either a blink of an eye or a century, when the dizziness from moving through space fade, the three of them are back to the queen's chamber with Hal's voice appeared in their mind, "Resident Evil: Apocalypse prerequisite mission triggered: Eliminate the infected in the hive. All participants get 1 C crystal and 2000 points when mission is complete. No punishment for mission failure."****

 ** **"Well this is certainly good news," Henry shrugged his shoulder. "It seems even Hal approves of our little trip."****

 ** **"Did you know this was gonna happen?" Strug asked. "Is that why you stop us to persuading Julian to come along? Did you think Julian would slow us down? Did you think he isn't worthy by your standard?"****

 ** **"Ah, thank you for listening to my rambling. I thought Sophia was the only one who paid attention," Henry patted Strug on the shoulder, who grabbed Henry by the shirt. "Thank you for giving me that much credit, but I can't see this far into the future. I certainly hoped Hal would have some type of reward for us confronting danger by coming back, but that was based on circumstantial evidence only. I stopped you from persuading the others to come along because coming here was definitely a risk. And if they don't feel comfortable taking that risk, no one should force them."****

 ** **"I agree with Henry," Sophia said. "We should teach kids how to think, not tell them what to think. Let this be a lesson for Julian. And since we'll be stronger through this, we'll do our best to keep him safe."****

 ** **"Ever the teacher huh?" Henry laughed. "But don't count the chicken before it hatches. This isn't gonna be a walk in the park for us either."****

 ** **The following days consist of nothing but sleep, eat, and fight. The few thousands zombies swarming each level alongside the few hundreds lickers that's roaming around the hive are standing between the group and the exit. As the fighting goes on, Strug, Henry, and Sophia became more and more introverted during combat while their actions became swift and precise. The trio went from trained civilian to full time soldier after two weeks of non-stop combat.****

 ** **Strug was always at the front line after he realized he had no talent with guns at all and his punches were just as effective at killing zombies. Sophia wasn't a sharpshooter but was very attentive at picking off straggler that Strug missed while he practiced his melee skill. Henry seemed dead set on following Dante's footstep as he familiarized himself with dual magnums.****

 ** **Their prowess did not come without a cost: Strug broke his bones on multiple occasions when he got tackled by the ambushing lickers; Henry's arm got sliced off by a licker when he couldn't dodge in time. Fortunately for him, his arm was in one piece after the fight was over and he had Dante's regeneration power. Unfortunately for him, he found out just how painful it was to regrow severed veins and tissue; Sophia, being the one without super human power, stayed smart and remained distant while she became proficient with the grenade launcher.****

 ** **Experience may not be a kind teacher, but it was definitely a good one. Strug's hand to hand combat dramatically improved to the point of being defend himself against three lickers while finding the chance to retaliate with his magnums at close range. Henry has mastered his dash ability and was able to kill lickers without being touched at all. The two men let Sophia had the finishing blow on the lickers whenever possible when they found out the lickers yield no points except to Sophia at the discounted rate of 10 points per licker.****

 ** **The highlight of their trip was the quality time they got to spent with two T-103 tyrants in what was left of the hive on their last day. Most of their ammos were spend firing blindly while running away from the pursuers. Sophia landed a grenade shot by pure luck which broke one of the Tyrant's power limiter, causing it to go berserk, killing and absorbing the second Tyrant, at which point Hal finally announced, "Mission complete. Award 1 C crystal and 2000 points."****

 ** **Twenty days of non-stop combat left the trio on high alert. When Judah came up to welcome them back, the trio immediately pulled their weapons out and took aim at him. "Welcome ba...," Judah's greeting was halted at gunpoint before the vigilant trio realise they were back at Hal and put their weapons away. "What happened to you guys in the hive?"****

 ** **"Nothing too exciting," Henry replied. "Shot a few thousand people in the head; Killed a few hundred lickers; Got chased around by a berserk Tyrant; Received a couple thousand points and a C crystal each from Hal for cleaning up the hive; that's all."****

 ** **"What?" Judah shouted. "You can get points when you go back?"****

 ** **"Apparently," Henry replied casually. "Anyhow, since we each have a C crystal and plenty of points, I'm thinking of getting an offensive ability . Do you guys know what you want?" Henry turned to Strug and Sophia.****

 ** **"I want a healing power which should be very helpful in battle." Sophia replied.****

 ** **"I was thinking about getting an offensive ability as well, possibly something that can affect spirits or other immaterial enemy," Strug chimed in.****

 ** **Lights shined down from Hal lifting all three of them in the air. Sophia was the first to land followed by Henry and Strug.****

 ** **Henry was eager to showed off his new ability for his demon hunter class Immolation which costed 1 C and 2000 points. But he made a fool of himself as he could not control the amount or location of the fire which burned everything that doesn't belong to his body, namely his clothes. As soon as he realized what he has done, he lost focus to maintain the immolation and had to use his dash ability to the maximum just to run into his room.****

 ** **Strug got a vampire ability called Blood Flame for 1 C and 2000 points. Unlike Henry's immolation, which generally covers the entire body, Strug's blood flame was more like molten lava, changing shape and size in his hand as Strug controls it.****

 ** **Sophia broke her C crystal down to 3 D crystals and got herself a Druid enhancement for 1 D and 1000 points after consulting with Henry, the go to nerd of the team, for a medic type power. She also spent 2 D crystals and 2000 points on two druidic spell call Rejuvenation and Entangling Roots. The reason Sophia went with Druid enhancement rather than other such as Priest was because Henry pointed out that two of her teammates clashed head on against any type of holy based magic but have no problem with the nature based magic.****

 ** **Strug also spent the last D crystal he had and 1500 points on a magic ring after asking Henry regarding how to improve on his chi. The unnamed magic ring is the cheapest of its kind from Asian MMO which allows the user to input positive energy such as Chi or Holy Power to create and maintain an aura around the user's hand, allowing the user to strike immaterial entity. The ring also allows for five cubic feet of storage with the content accessible by inputting positive energy.****

 ** **Henry asked Sophia to purchase numerous consumable items with the bonus rewards that only she could receive from the licker kills. Sophia happily complied because among the consumable items are futuristic first aid spray, high-efficiency medical wrap, food and water that are compressed into tiny curbs, materials to replenish ammunition, etc. which were all helpful towards the whole team, especially Julian.****

 ** **On the tenth day, everyone came out of their room armed to the teeth just like Strug, Sophia, and Henry were when they went back into resident evil. The items Sophia purchased were divided among the groups. As the group was checking their equipment for the last time, twenty light beams shined down from Hal with its signature emotionless voice echoing in the group's heads, "Walk into the light within thirty seconds or be erased. Teleport targets locked. Commencing transportation to Alien."****


End file.
